Had to travel to london today to pick up a car,wanted to fly but to no avail.
Thinking cap on I thought I would travel with the commoners and take the train.Rang yesterday to be told £16-22 from beverley-pretty cheap for a 200 mile journey...

Rang to book it with a certain company who have R.N.G.E in their name.

Me: I need to pay for my ticket
Numpty: £43 please
Me:???? Still cheaper than petrol.
Numpty: pick up tickets at the station
Me:Ticket office won't be open at 0630
Numpty: It will,thanks for booking.

Get there this morning-yep it was closed:sad:
Got on train anyway only to be told I would not be travelling unless I bought another ticket at £70,no arguments would solve the problem.

So cheers for that you set of :mad: s

Rant off!

My advice- Walk!

For £70 I could have flown to north weald and got a local train or bus in!:rolleyes:

Astrodome

11th Mar 2006, 19:29

Thinking cap on I thought I would travel with the commoners OK this certainly sets the scene.

Rang yesterday to be told £16-22 from beverley-pretty cheap for a 200 mile journey...
Yes the prices are correct but need to be booked by 1800 hours the day before, and are limited by number. Presumably you spoke with National Rail Enquiries ? 08457 484950.

Rang to book it with a certain company who have R.N.G.E in their name.

Me: I need to pay for my ticket
Numpty: £43 please
Me:???? Still cheaper than petrol.
Obviously the cheaper tickets had sold out, so you were sold a ticket at a good price. A single to London is £73

Me:Ticket office won't be open at 0630
Numpty: It will,thanks for booking.
You were correct. It opens at 0700

Got on train anyway only to be told I would not be travelling unless I bought another ticket at £70,no arguments would solve the problem.

So cheers for that you set of s
OK, just so I understand this.........

You get on a train, and presumably expect the Guard to believe that you have paid for a ticket.

Only problem is that you don't have any proof.

So obviously you expect the Guard to take your word for this ?

In the same way that airline checkin would believe you and let you travel ?...or Marks and Spencer if you turned up to exchange a shirt that you had bought but didn't have with you ?

You really do think that no-one ever tries that on do you ???....If I had a Pound for everytime I heard that one...............

So, you are unable to prove anything to the Guard. So what do you expect him to do ? Walk away ?

And if you were a punter who had paid and observed the scenario? How would you feel?...I rather think you would be on here ranting about it....don't you ?

So the guard who has done what he is paid for is a set of s

Says much about you, and your opinion of others.

For £70 I could have flown to north weald and got a local train or bus in!
One is tempted to say that in that case you have a solution to your perceived problem.

Onan the Clumsy

11th Mar 2006, 19:36

Love Fifteen

:}

SirToppamHat

11th Mar 2006, 20:16

Sorry Astrodome, I have a good deal of sympathy with markflyer on this - I too have been given duff gen by National Rail Numpties.

In this instance, markflyer presumably paid for the ticket with a card of some sort, which presumably he would have been carrying as proof when going to to collect the tickets?

Surely all the guard/ticket collector/inspector/baboon or whatever they are called these days only needed to contact Nation Rail Numpties to confirm the validity of his claim using said card as a reference? This must be within any reasonable definition of his/her duties?

However, that would not have earned the company an extra £70 (or at worst £27 assuming markflyer got the original fee back, which I doubt!).

The rail companies can bang-on about train services getting better, but the simple fact is that with the number of disparate operations involved, the rail network as a whole is not working, and no-one will take responsibility or sort it out.

STH

IB4138

11th Mar 2006, 20:18

What is R N G E an annogram of ?:confused: :rolleyes:

BUMPFF

11th Mar 2006, 20:33

In the bad old days, I used to travel from Sheffield to Doncaster and back every Saturday, on time. One shilling and nine pence return (that's under 20p) and the train was usually pulled by a Sandringham. God rot Dr. Beeching and all subsequent Tansport Ministers.

Astrodome

11th Mar 2006, 20:43

Sorry Astrodome, I have a good deal of sympathy with markflyer on this No problem but I would veture a few observations.

I too have been given duff gen by National Rail NumptiesI suggest you speak with Virgin/Branson then who own a large chunk of this organisation. Incidentally I agree with you, but then again this is what you get when you go to a foreign call centre.

In this instance, markflyer presumably paid for the ticket with a card of some sort, which presumably he would have been carrying as proof when going to to collect the tickets?
OK let me explain this 'scam'. You buy one return ticket, and your colleague buys one single.

When you return, you give him the outward portion of your ticket.

When the Guard comes through your friend says Oh, I must have handed in the wrong half at Kings Cross" They then proceed to make a large fuss along the lines that they have 'proof' of having bought a return tickets, with the usual threats and comment of the sort mentioned earlier.

Get the picture?

Surely all the guard/ticket collector/inspector/baboon or whatever they are called these days only needed to contact Nation Rail Numpties to confirm the validity of his claim using said card as a reference? This must be within any reasonable definition of his/her duties?
In the same way that airline checkin would ?.

Just for a start, details of card transactions are subject to laws on disclosure.

The original poster can simply go to Beverley station and collect the ticket he bought over the phone, together with the ticket he purcahsed. He can then apply for a refund.

I have to admit to being a little surprised, at the sequence of events as GNER will only sell a ticket that can be collected at a special machine (Beverley is not equipped) or by calling at the booking office on a later date. You cannot order the day before for collection at the local booking office in the normal course of events.....just to prevent such incidents.

However, that would not have earned the company an extra £70 (or at worst £27 assuming markflyer got the original fee back, which I doubt!).
Shades of going into M&S and saying look I paid for a shirt (etc) which I haven't got with me (but trust me).... I want to exchange it for a different size.

Would you expect any other organisation to proceed along the lines you suggest ? Probably not as railways for some strange reason always have different commercial 'rules' applied to them by punters...always in the punters favour by the way.

Train Operating Companies these days are commercial ventures and no different to the high st. They just happen to be businesses who operate trains.

The rail companies can bang-on about train services getting better, but the simple fact is that with the number of disparate operations involved, the rail network as a whole is not working, and no-one will take responsibility or sort it out.
I would refer you to a Labour Party Manifesto COMMITTMENT clearly stated and repeated many times by Bliar that he would immediately re-nationalise the railway system upon Labour being elected.

Observations should be sent to No. 10 Downing St.

IB4138
The anagram is for GNER, voted consistently one of the best operators year after year.

Gingerbread Man

11th Mar 2006, 21:32

GNER, voted consistently one of the best operators year after year.

Right on. Everytime I travel on GNER the service is absolutely flawless. I remember we once stopped in the middle of nowhere and were delayed for ten minutes. Then we turned up at the destination 15 minutes early - it was unbelievable!

Although I normally agree with any train complaints (you see, I usually use SouthWest :ugh: ) you really can't expect someone to take your word that you somewhere have a valid ticket - it's just not reasonable. It was also unreasonable for the guy to misinform you on the phone, but that isn't GNER's problem really.

The worst trip I ever had was going from Southampton to Newark. I asked for a London ticket, but got a non-London one. Didn't check it, which was stupid. I then arrived at Paddington and couldn't get through the barriers. So I explained and was told I had to pay more, which I tried, but for some reason my card was rejected. I was then frogmarched to a cashpoint to get some money, and suceeded. It was only when I went back to the kiosk and asked something about my railcard that the woman realised that I had actually been overcharged in the first place and let me through. Got a seat on the GNER train and then heard that standard tickets weren't valid a this time, so got off. Was told I could upgrade the ticket when the guard came round. Asked him, and he said "no need if you came from Southampton". So I was saved from financial ruin and a heart attack in the end, mainly thanks to RGNE or whatever.

Long story short - South West Trains are awful. GNER are good. Midland Mainline ones might as well be welded to the platform.

Ginger :)

markflyer6580

11th Mar 2006, 21:51

I had bought the ticket at 1430 yesterday,you were right they had sold out of real cheap tickets-seems daft as the train was empty...
Had ref no as proof,the first (very helpful) northern rail guard rang through to check for me to hull-they had me on the system but could not do anything as the ticket was at beverley.
First guard said don't travel without ticket but after finding out my details he said talk to the gner chap and with the ref no all should be well.

What pi$$ed me off the most was that I knew it would all go wrong but the call centre numpties didn't listen:confused:

The reason I knew it would be closed? I until recently lived in the old station masters cottage right next to the station!

SirToppamHat

11th Mar 2006, 21:56

Guys you're missing the point I think. I am not suggesting that the Guard takes anyone's word for it; the credit card was presumably available and the informtion required by the Guard could and should have been released by the booking system (it really doesn't matter who owns it - the train operator being travelled with presumably has a service arrangement with that selling the tickets, and should be given access to the information legitimately sought).

In the same way that airline checkin would?

Err yes. That's how it worked the last time I flew (though I also needed a passport).

The original poster can simply go to Beverley station and collect the ticket he bought over the phone, together with the ticket he purcahsed. He can then apply for a refund.

In which case, I hope he will come back and tell us - will he be able to subject the refund to an admin charge to cover his additional costs?

I understand your cynicism, but if what markflyer says is true, it seems to me that the system did not work this time, and he has every right to be grumpy about it.

Finally, some of the mainline express services can be pretty good, but much of the rolling stock is appalling, and have you tried travelling across the country recently? Or on a Sunday/weekend?

Time for bed.

STH

Edited to add I hadn't seen markflyer's last post when posted.

markflyer6580

11th Mar 2006, 22:09

I will return if I get a refund,in fairness to the gner guard he said I should get the £70 refunded and not the £43.

The gner service is good-clean trains etc and generally on time-however I avoid public transport at all costs-I did use it a lot whilst in the forces and even when they where paying I was always amazed at the scandalous charges _open return for my journey would be £140?

What planet are they on?

Had I been told from the start it would be £70 I would have flown or driven and had somebody drive my other car back!

At least they were polite.

Astrodome I take it you work on the railways?

I'm not one to kick up a fuss on a train or similar I leave that to football fans and the like:E

Astrodome

11th Mar 2006, 22:46

markflyer6580
I will return if I get a refund,in fairness to the gner guard he said I should get the £70 refunded and not the £43.